Odin is dead-simple to get started with!

There are 3 main ways of getting Odin:

• Official Releases - for downloading the latest monthly or nightly release
• From Source - for building from source (very easy to do)
• Package Managers - for an overview of package managers that package Odin

The compiler currently supports compiling on:

• Windows x86-64/AMD64 (MSVC)
• Linux x86-64/AMD64 and ARM64
• MacOS x86-64/AMD64 and ARM64
• FreeBSD x86-64/AMD64 and ARM64
• NetBSD x86-64/AMD64 and ARM64
• OpenBSD x86-64/AMD64
• Haiku x86-64/AMD64 (experimental)

and supports compiling to many more targets.

Official Releases #

Download the latest monthly or nightly release and look over the release requirements below.

Latest Release Latest Nightly Builds

Release requirements / notes #

Windows:

• Odin needs the MSVC compiler and windows SDK from the “Desktop development with C++” component. If you don’t have this already, you can download the installer here. Make sure to at least click on “Desktop development with C++” and tick the boxes for MSVC and the Windows SDK. It should look something like:
  • If you want the smallest install possible, there is a third-party script that installs only the things that are needed
• Optionally add the Odin compiler directory to the PATH environment variable so odin.exe is accessible everywhere on your computer

MacOS:

• Install XCode command-line tools xcode-select --install
  • If that command is not found you may need to install XCode from the App Store
• Note that this release does not come with wasm-ld for compiling to WASM, you have to install that separately as described in the chapter about building from source
• Optionally add the Odin folder to your shell’s path or symlink the odin binary to a folder that is in your shell’s path
  • Example for ZSH (from the Odin folder): echo 'export PATH="/path/to/Odin/folder:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
  • Note that the compiler executable expects to be next to/in the same folder as the base, core, and vendor folders, you can however set the ODIN_ROOT environment variable to override the path to these folders
• If macOS complains that it can’t verify the executable, it might be quarantined because it’s unsigned. To unquarantine, try xattr -d com.apple.quarantine <path_to_odin_executable>

Others (Unix):

• Install Clang which is used for linking (see your package manager’s instructions)
  • Debian/Ubuntu - apt install clang
  • Fedora - dnf install clang
• Optionally add the Odin folder to your shell’s path or symlink the odin binary to a folder that is in your shell’s path
  • Example for bash (from the Odin folder): echo 'export PATH="/path/to/Odin/folder:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
  • Note that the compiler executable expects to be next to/in the same folder as the base, core, and vendor folders, you can however set the ODIN_ROOT environment variable to override the path to these folders

Package Managers #

Repology maintains a list of package managers and their status.

Note that these packages are configured by third-parties and may be flawed, please direct support to their maintainers.

From Source #

Windows #

1. Odin needs the MSVC compiler and windows SDK from the “Desktop development with C++” component. If you don’t have this already, you can download the installer here. Make sure to at least click on “Desktop development with C++” and tick the boxes for MSVC and the Windows SDK. It should look something like:
   • If you want the smallest install possible, there is a third-party script that installs only the things that are needed
2. Your command prompt will probably not have the Microsoft Build Tools set up by default, there are 2 ways to set it up if it isn’t:
   • run the x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS20xx shortcut bundled with Visual Studio (search in start menu), or
   • run vcvarsall.bat x64 from a blank cmd session
3. Clone the repository somewhere: git clone https://github.com/odin-lang/Odin
4. Navigate to the Odin folder: cd Odin
5. Optionally use git checkout dev-YYYY-MM to checkout one of the official releases
6. Run build.bat release
7. Optionally add the Odin compiler directory to the PATH environment variable so odin.exe is accessible everywhere on your computer

Updating #

1. Through step 2 of installing, open up the developer command prompt
2. Navigate to the Odin folder
3. Optionally use git checkout dev-YYYY-MM to checkout an official release
4. git pull
5. build.bat release

MacOS #

1. Install XCode command-line tools xcode-select --install
   • If that command is not found you may need to install XCode from the App Store
2. Install Homebrew and then LLVM: brew install llvm, the versions we support are 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21
3. Clone the repository somewhere: git clone https://github.com/odin-lang/Odin
4. Navigate to the Odin folder: cd Odin
5. Optionally use git checkout dev-YYYY-MM to checkout an official release
6. Run make release-native
   • If you want to specify an explicit LLVM version or path, you can set the LLVM_CONFIG environment variable: LLVM_CONFIG=/path/to/llvm-config make release-native
7. Optionally add the Odin folder to your shell’s path or symlink the odin binary to a folder that is in your shell’s path
   • Example for ZSH (from the Odin folder): echo 'export PATH="/path/to/Odin/folder:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
   • Note that the compiler executable expects to be next to/in the same folder as the base, core, and vendor folders, you can however set the ODIN_ROOT environment variable to override this

A note on WASM and LLVM binaries #

In order to compile for WASM, Odin calls out to wasm-ld for linking. This linker is included in the lld formula, install it through brew install lld.

Updating #

1. Navigate to the Odin folder
2. Optionally use git checkout dev-YYYY-MM to checkout an official release
3. git pull
4. make release-native

Others (Unix) #

1. Install clang and LLVM (the versions we support are 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21) using your package manager
   • It could be that LLVM is split into multiple packages and you also need to install something like llvm-devel
2. Make sure llvm-config, llvm-config-(14|17|18|19|20|21), or llvm-config(14|17|18|19|20|21) and clang are able to be found through your $PATH
   • If you want to specify an explicit LLVM version or path, you can set the LLVM_CONFIG environment variable: LLVM_CONFIG=/path/to/llvm-config make release-native
3. Clone the repository somewhere: git clone https://github.com/odin-lang/Odin
4. Navigate to the Odin folder: cd Odin
5. Optionally use git checkout dev-YYYY-MM to checkout an official release
6. Run make release-native
   • If an atomic.h error occurs, see the following section about it
7. Optionally add the Odin folder to your shell’s path or symlink the odin binary to a folder that is in your shell’s path
   • Example for bash (from the Odin folder): echo 'export PATH="/path/to/Odin/folder:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
   • Note that the compiler executable expects to be next to/in the same folder as the base, core, and vendor folders, you can however set the ODIN_ROOT environment variable to override this

A note on atomic.h #

The Odin compiler relies on C++’s atomic.h for atomic memory ordering, some operating systems need some more steps to install this. To find out which package you need to install, use clang++ -v and look for “Selected GCC installation” and note the version number (usually 12, or 14). Then, depending on OS, install the corresponding c++ standard package, usually called libstdc++-VERSION-dev but also found under different names, for help and more information see this GitHub issue.

Updating #

1. Navigate to the Odin folder
2. Optionally use git checkout dev-YYYY-MM to checkout an official release
3. git pull
4. make release-native

Got stuck? #

If something did not work as said on this page or you just need help, do not hesitate to reach out through our Discord or Github issues/discussions.

Do note that we do not officially maintain or support the various package managers.

What Next? #

Why not check out the Odin Overview for more information on the Odin Programming Language!